Korea Exchange Bank and its biggest shareholder Lone Star Funds lost an international suit filed by Olympus Capital, the formerly second-largest shareholder of KEB’s credit card affiliate. 　The International Court of Arbitration of Singapore, in its recent verdict, ordered KEB, Lone Star and three other parties to pay Olympus Capital $37.3 million (43 billion won) with arrear of interest of 5 percent per annum.　The equity fund Olympus Capital had argued that KEB breached its contract with the th

The nation’s two largest private lenders face suspension for allegedly charging some borrowers illegal interest rates, officials said on Tuesday.Gangnam Ward Office of Seoul, which has investigated these practices in coordination with the Financial Supervisory Service, said Tuesday that it would halt the operations of Rush N Cash and Sanwa Money soon.The private loan industry’s No. 1 player Rush N Cash and No. 2 player Sanwa Money have been suspected of violating the upper ceiling of 39 percent

Hyundai Motor Group promoted six top management personnel at major units on Monday as part of chairman Chung Mong-koo’s business policy to secure internal strength.Jung Soo-hyun, who worked as a CEO of Hyundai E&C, was promoted to president and CEO of Hyundai Group’s construction unit, taking the No. 1 position in the company.Hyundai Mobis CEO Jun Ho-suck will lead the auto parts producer as the president and CEO, taking over the role of the outgoing vice chairman.Previously, the two companies w

Global rating firms predicted Monday that the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would not lead to a downgrade of South Korea’s credit rating.Moody’s Investors Service said that the economic fundamentals of Seoul would not change with Kim’s death.“We will continue to rate South Korea on the basis of its economic, institutional and government financial fundamentals,” a senior vice president at Moody’s in Singapore was quoted by a Chinese news provider as saying.He said these would not chang

The list of the nation’s first homegrown hedge funds will be unveiled this week.More than 10 “Korean-style” hedge funds are expected to make their historic debut on Dec. 23, according to the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Financial Investment Association.Over the past few weeks, the FSC has looked into the eligibility of 13 asset management companies, which applied for the homegrown hedge fund business.Most of them are set to introduce one hedge fund product late this month or early

Korea’s six non-life insurance companies saw their earnings in overseas markets drop by 52.2 percent on a year-on-year basis, due mainly to natural disasters and lax risk management.Overseas operations of three companies have led the fall in net profit. They were Samsung Fire & Marine, Korea Re and LIG Insurance, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Samsung Fire & Marine’s overseas unit reported a net profit of $5.43 million during the April and September period, a drop of $3.91 millio

FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibilityThe Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds from the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star to the civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform.The documents involve the regulator’s ruling as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own KEB between September 2003 and June 2006.After a

State-run financial group completes acquisition of RBS Uz under global expansion strategyKorea Development Bank has set the goal of becoming one of the top 20 banks in Asia by 2015 and entering the top 20 in the world by 2020, executives said Thursday.The bank’s parent KDB Financial Group completed its takeover of the Royal Bank of Scotland Uzbekistan, or RBS Uz, in November after signing a contract in December 2010.KDB Financial Group chairman Kang Man-soo, who participated in an event to celeb

FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibilityThe Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds in the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star to the civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform.The documents involve the regulator’s ruling as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own KEB between September 2003 and June 2006.After a fo

Report says 2003 documents were written by regulators, not accounting firmFinancial regulators are suspected of fabricating documents on Lone Star Funds in 2003 when Korea Exchange Bank was acquired by the buyout fund, according to a news report.At least over the past few months, the Financial Services Commission (then the Financial Supervisory Commission) has argued that the records, submitted by an accounting firm, prove that Lone Star was eligible to own a Korean bank.But the documents were a

Opposition lawmakers call for parliamentary probe into FSC over KEB dealFinancial regulators are expected to make public their stance on Lone Star Funds this week as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own Korea Exchange Bank between 2003 and 2006.“The Financial Services Commission has notified that it would send related documents on Lone Star to us on Dec. 15,” a researcher of the Solidarity for Economic Reform said Tuesday.The regulator’s coming move reflects a Nov. 24 ruling by the

Opposition submits proposal to investigate into regulator’s OK of fund’s takeover of KEBFinancial regulators are expected to make public their stance on Lone Star Funds this week as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own Korea Exchange Bank between 2003 and 2006.“The Financial Services Commission has notified that it would send related documents on Lone Star to us on Dec. 15,” a researcher of the Solidarity for Economic Reform said Tuesday.The regulator’s coming move reflects a Nov.

The ratio of young customers to total buyers of import cars has surged by about 10 percentage in five years.According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the number of buyers of foreign-made cars in their 20s and 30s accounted for 22.7 percent of customers in 2011, compared to 12 percent in 2006.The proportion young customers in the import automobile market, which stayed below 10 percent 10 years ago, continued to increase to 17.6 percent in 2009 and 20.3 percent in 2

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo called for heads of overseas corporations to prioritize enhancing internal stability amid the unfavorable global market conditions.His remarks come during a meeting of overseas corporations’ presidents from countries such as the U.S., China and India with the Hyundai-Kia staff at their headquarters in Seoul.Chung was quoted by a Hyundai executive as saying that “Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have posted great performances. The global automotive industry

Korea’s commercial banks recently saw their credit ratings raised while many big foreign banks suffered downgrades by three global rating agencies.According to the Korea Center for International Finance, six Korean banks recently enjoyed upgraded credit ratings or more positive outlooks from the rating firms.In July, Standard & Poor’s raised its rating of Shinhan Bank and Hana Bank by one notch.In November, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on three state-run banks ― Industrial Bank of Korea, Ex

Nissan’s small car battles BMW 520d,Mercedes E300 for the best-selling title in KoreaThe competition to becoming the best selling foreign car in Korea is becoming a showdown between a box-like Japanese car and two German premium sedans.The Cube of Nissan has emerged as a powerful player in the nation’s import car market, becoming the best-selling model last month.In November, the Cube, a multi-purpose vehicle, beat the two previously most popular models ― the 520d of BMW and the E300 of Mercede

More than half of securities company chiefs in Korea are about see the end of their terms, signaling a wave of management changes in the brokerage industry.According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, 29 out of 49 securities firms will see their tenures end next year.In particular, most of the 10 major securities firms are affected. Samsung Securities replaced its CEO on Dec. 7.The current figures include Daewoo Securities CEO Im Kee-young, Woori Investment and Securities CEO Hwang S

1.6-liter Gamma engine selected for the ‘Best 10 Engines’ list by U.S. auto mediaHyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors became the No. 1 and No. 2 foreign carmakers, respectively, in Russian markets in November, according to industrial data.Hyundai posted sales of 17,283 units in Russia last month, maintaining the No. 1 position for the third consecutive month, according to the Association of European Businesses.Kia ranked second with sales of 15,115 units, overtaking GM Chevrolet with sales

Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Cho Joon-hee unveiled his business policy to lower the maximum interest rate on loans to below 10 percent next year.Under the CEO’s commitment, the state-run bank is poised to provide the lowest lending rates in the local commercial banking sector.“We are pushing for the loan rate cut as households and enterprises are expected to suffer a heavier financial burden amid gloomy predictions over the 2012 economy,” Cho told reporters.To make up for curtailed profit from t

Three U.S. automakers are expected to pick up their marketing and sales in Korea to battle Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors under the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which will take effect early next year.In addition, a great number of Japanese cars produced in the U.S. will likely be imported under the coming slash in tariff on automobiles.Tariff on made-in-U.S. automobiles will be lowered from 8 percent to 4 percent under the bilateral trace pact. Further, the 4 percent tariff will be removed in